1. Field
An inside unit of an air conditioner is disclosed herein.
2. Background
Generally, an air conditioner is a cooling and heating system which heats and cools a room by repeatedly suctioning inside air, exchanging heat with a low temperature or high temperature refrigerant, and then discharging the heat-exchanged air into the room. The air conditioner is an apparatus which forms a series of cycles and includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator.
In particular, the air conditioner is divided into an outside unit (which may be referred to as an “outside side,” “heat radiating side,” or “outside unit”) which is installed at an outside, and an inside unit (which may be referred to as an “inside side,” “heat absorbing side,” or “inside unit”) which is mainly installed at an inside of a dwelling or building. The condenser (an outside heat exchanger) and the compressor are installed at the outside unit, and the evaporator (an inside heat exchanger) is installed at the inside unit.
The air conditioner may be classified into a separate type air conditioner in which the outside unit and the inside unit are separately installed, and an integral type air conditioner in which the outside unit and the inside unit are integrally installed. The separate type air conditioner is generally preferred in consideration of an installation space, a noise, or the like.
In a multi-type air conditioner among the separate type air conditioners, a plurality of inside units are generally connected to a single outside unit, and the inside units are installed in rooms to be air-conditioned, respectively, and thus an effect as if several air conditioners are installed may be obtained. One example of an inside unit of a multi-type air conditioner is an inside unit of a cassette type air conditioner, which is installed at a ceiling of an inside space and heats and cools the inside space.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0006305, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an inside unit of a cassette type air conditioner installed in the ceiling. In order to fix the inside unit on the wall surface of the ceiling, it has a structure in which an installation means constituted with an anchor bolt and a bolt socket is mounted on an outside of a cabinet. In order to install, because a lower panel is mounted after the cabinet is mounted, the workability is degraded. In order to balance after installation or adjust other installation, the lower panel should be removed and then mounted again, etc., which significantly affects workability.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2008-0052927, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an inside unit of an air conditioner which forms an access hole on the four corners of a front surface panel, and which may control an installation state of the inside unit through accessing to an installation bracket through opening of the access hole. However, according to such a structure, for operating the installation means mounted on the installation bracket, because all four access hole covers should be opened or closed, there is a problem that the workability is poor. Because the four openable access holes are installed and an access hole cover should be mounted in a rotatable structure, there is a problem that not only the assembly work is increased, but also the productivity is decreased.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0074374, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an inside unit of a cassette type air conditioner installed on the ceiling. The apparatus includes a fan, a heat exchanger, a fan motor, and a drain pan collecting condensed water of the heat exchanger are provided inside of a cabinet, and a structure in which a front panel shielding an opened surface of the cabinet is exposed to the ceiling surface. Also disclosed is a structure in which air is suctioned through an inlet port formed in the front panel and then discharged to an outlet port. According the inside unit of the air conditioner of such a structure, when the temperature of the discharged air is excessively lower than that of inside air, condensation on a surface of the outlet port may occur by the temperature difference and water generated by the condensation may drop into an inside space.
To prevent such a problem, an additional configuration for insulation or preventing dew condensation on the outlet port side may be added, but there is a problem that such a configuration is dropped or noise and vibration are generated by a continuous air flow.
In addition, an fan, a heat exchanger, a fan motor, and a drain pan collecting the condensed water of the heat exchanger are provided inside of a cabinet installed on the ceiling, and a control box is provided on one side of the drain pan, and a structure in which a front panel shielding a lower surface of the cabinet is exposed to the ceiling surface is disclosed. At the inside unit of the air conditioner of such a structure, for a service operation, such as maintenance or repair of the control box, the opened surface of the cabinet should be exposed by completely separating the front panel. Such configuration is problematic in that it requires that the front panel be separated and re-assembled upon every service operation.